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Blindfolded at 4am and pushed to his limits over the next 30 hours, Project Director Dan Hussey took on the Breaking Point Challenge in Townsville, raising over $26,000 for childhood brain cancer research.
Building better together goes beyond our worksites. It’s about our people showing up for the communities we’re part of. With Townsville home to our regional Queensland office, it meant a lot to see one of our team members take part alongside local businesses, volunteers, army personnel and coordinators, all giving back to their community. Supporting the people who live and work where we build is part of who we are, and Symal was honoured to sponsor Dan in this endeavour.
Dan was one of 30 participants selected for this year’s challenge held across two days in October. Led and supervised by experienced military professionals, the challenge pushes participants to their physical and mental limits in support of The Cure Starts Now.
The preparation started well before that weekend. Over five months, the challengers trained together and raised funds through sponsorships and events.
Then came the challenge itself. At 4am, participants were picked up, blindfolded and driven to Lavarack Barracks in the back of utes.
After a quick briefing, pack check and warmup the work began. Obstacle courses, abseiling, rock climbing, hand-to-hand combat, running and swimming, fuelled by Army ration packs and no sleep. Working in teams of six, participants also had to protect and carry a box together from start to finish. Trainers tried to turn participants against each other. Instead, the teams banded together.
In the early hours of the morning, sore and fatigued everyone stood in a circle and shared why they had signed up for this gruelling ordeal. There were plenty of tears as the team shared moving tributes to family members and friends.
For Dan, his reason was simple: giving back to the community and showing his children the value of helping others in need. When work got busy in the lead-up, he admits he almost lost sight of what had driven him to sign up.
“This challenge is nothing compared to what the children with brain cancer and their families go through because of this awful disease. This was merely short-term discomfort in comparison,” said Dan.
When the challenge finished the next day, close to 1,000 supporters waited to congratulate the participants. Dan came out with a banged-up shoulder, two fewer toenails and 3kg lighter. But most importantly, he has raised over $26,000, which is over his target and part of the over $845,000 raised across the event so far.
Every dollar goes towards research and clinical trials to help find a cure for childhood brain cancer, a fight young patients and their families face across the country.
Want to back Dan’s efforts? Donate to Dan’s Breaking Point Challenge here.
Congratulations, Dan. We couldn’t be prouder.
